Gore Design Completions Ltd. is wrapping up a 60,000-square-foot expansion of its hangar and shop space at Port San Antonio and is looking to hire between 150 to 200 employees before the end of the year.

The expanded workforce, says Gore Design Completions CEO Jerry Gore, is needed to meet the demands of contracts awarded to the company over the past two years that are now coming online.

GDC manufactures and installs aircraft interiors for owners of private jets. The private company currently employs nearly 500 workers and has annual sales exceeding $100 million, company officials say.

GDC is part of a local aerospace industry that employs nearly 10,000 people and has an annual economic impact of some $3.8 billion, according to a study prepared by the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce in 2007 — the most recent local data available.

The latest work in GDC’s pipeline involves designing and engineering custom interior finish-out work on a Boeing 777-200LR, which is set to arrive at GDC’s facilities at the end of August. Gore declined to provide the value of that contract.

GDC was awarded this contract in the spring of 2008.

The contract calls for GDC to design and install interior cabinets, upholstery and wiring.

In addition to the Boeing contract, Gore says the company also began custom interior completion work earlier this year on one of two A340-500 aircraft.

Although the original contract for these two aircraft was awarded last summer, the company did not receive the first aircraft until January of this year. The second aircraft arrived just last month.

GDC expects to receive a third A340-500 aircraft by the end of the year — from a separate Airbus contract it was awarded in the fall of 2008. The combined dollar amount of these two separate Airbus contracts totals $150 million.

The company also has work on a Boeing 737-900 and a Boeing 767-300ER aircraft under contracts that were both awarded in the fall of 2008.

GDC officials declined to disclose the value of the two contracts.

As the work on these contracts begins to unfold, Gore says, the company needs to have employees on the ground to handle the work.

As a result, GDC’s plan to add 150 to 200 more workers before years’ end will involve filling primarily technical and engineering positions. GDC officials declined to disclose specific salary figures.

However, Eva Esquivel, a spokeswoman for Workforce Solutions Alamo, says local aerospace engineers and technicians can make anywhere from $41,000 to $67,000 annually.

“I feel that we will continue to see a steady growth in our company with the goal that we will continue to produce work and expand successfully over the next few years,” Gore says.

GDC performs interior design, engineering, avionics and project management services for its customers worldwide. The majority of its clients are heads of state, presidents of companies, royalty and millionaires.

Delayed benefits

Lindsay Oler, spokeswoman for GDC, says contracts for the work the company performs are generally signed a year or two in advance of the arrival of the actual aircraft.

“In many cases, the aircraft has not even been built by Boeing or Airbus at the time that we sign it to a completions contract,” Oler explains. “The main reason for this is that slots at a completions center can be tough to come by on short notice and so it becomes necessary for customers to reserve a slot well in advance of the plane’s expected arrival.”

Oler says all the planes currently in GDC’s hangar are awaiting work on contracts signed in 2008 or 2009. But, she says, the actual planes have only “just arrived” in the last two months. All future contracts that the company is seeking, Oler adds, would be for aircraft arriving in late 2011, 2012 or even 2013.

“Our hangar will be full with its current projects into 2012,” Oler says.

Oler says the company is working to sign additional contracts this year, but declined to discuss deals that have not been finalized.

Hangar space

If GDC is able to secure the new contracts now in the negotiation stages, Gore says the company plans to build a second hangar of at least 100,000 square feet out at Port San Antonio, which is an aerospace business park located on the city’s Southwest Side.

“We would have to work with Port San Antonio to secure the land for the new hangar,” Gore says. “The signing of additional contracts will drive that decision.”

In order to house the aircraft now being worked on (particularly those from the Airbus contracts), Gore says GDC launched an expansion project in January of this year.

“They’ve (Airbus) made us commit to expanding the hangar so that we can house their airplanes,” he says.

The expansion involved adding 43,500 square feet to the company’s existing 100,000-square-foot hangar and another 16,500 square feet of space for shops and offices. The expansion project is slated for completion this week at a total price tag of $15 million, GDC officials say.

Bruce Miller, president and CEO of Port San Antonio, says GDC is one of the park’s core group of aerospace tenants that have “enabled Port San Antonio to strategically redevelop the former Air Force property.”

“Port San Antonio’s growth is directly tied to its customers’ (tenant’s) growth, and Gore is an important example of how the port is evolving,” Miller says.

The company is now a world leader in the specialized field of wide-body aircraft interiors, Miller adds. “At Port San Antonio it has found a strategic home base ... which can accommodate any type of large aircraft; a place where it can expand its facilities as its profile grows internationally; and a talented workforce to which it is providing good jobs.”